Chapter 1: The First Imperium
Gaius “Paratus!” Gaius’ voice rang out as he commanded the First Legion Licentia, “et...IGNIS!” Yelled Gaius One hundred archers, clad in black leather armour, fired at the monster army as they charged toward the First Legion. The enemy’s front lines fell within the first volley. The monster army roared with rage at Gaius and the First as they continued to charge towards them. “INFANTRY, AT THE READY!” Yelled Gaius A few hundred battle cries came from the First as the infantry soldiers lifted their swords high above their heads and advanced, in formation, towards the monster army. “Lock shields!” Yelled Gaius The infantry soldiers held their shields together as they marched, side by side, and left little gaps in between their shields for their spears and their swords. The infantry held together as they broke through the unorganized mass. The enemy army fell within seconds, turning into golden and bronze dust. A hearty victory cry went up from the First. Gaius smiled and looked around at the battlefield. The only sign of a battle were the monster army ashes that covered the ground. Gaius looked towards his own soldiers. Not a single one of them had perished. A job well done, thought Gaius as he ordered his troops to march back to the Imperium. Gaius trailed behind his troops, occasionally yelling commands to the soldiers. The praetor of the First fell back from the marching troops and saddled up beside Gaius. Gaius attempted to remember her name, but was not successful. “Is something wrong Sir?” asked the praetor, looking at him with a concerned expression. “No, nothing’s wrong. There are just a few things on my mind. Praetor..is it?” Gaius replied. “My name is Lydia.” “That’s right, Lydia. Sorry for not paying much attention. I am a bit distracted and worried about some of the things on my mind. For example, I’m worried as to whether we’ll be able to make it back home before dinner.” The Praetor laughed heartily, “I’m sure we’ll make it back to the dining hall so that you can stuff yourself with meat.” Gaius chuckled, “Like that’ll happen.” The Praetor responded, “Let’s just focus on the task at hand and hope there aren’t anymore monster army attacks ahead of us. That would ruin the march and seriously delay us getting you home for dinner.” As it turned out, the worry of any further mass army attacks was gone. The attacks on the Praetor and Gaius were now focused on the individual monsters that plagued their journey. On the way home, the First Legion had been attacked twice; once by a hydra that Gaius had slain himself and then by a grotesque creature with six arms which the fourth cohort centurion had slain with help from his first tribune. When the First Legion finally reached the Imperium, they were welcomed with hearty cheers from the guards on the walls. The guards opened the gates for them and informed Gaius that roll-call would be taking place in five minutes on the Plains of Bellona. Gaius ordered his troops into place at roll-call. He hurried, with Lydia in tow, to where the Praetors and officers stood. One by one, the Praetors ordered their legions to cheer the Roman motto; Senatus Populusque Romanus. Gaius, having four of the legions under his command and being one of the Primis Praetors, had to call out the motto four times. Once all was said and done, the legions of the New Roman European Coalition made their way to the dining hall. Gaius arrived at the dining hall and sat at the Empress’s, his surrogate mother’s table, along with the other Primis Praetors and the Caesar family, which included him. Gaius waited for his mother to take food from the table and then his siblings and himself followed. The other Primis Praetors began to take food from the limestone table that stretched the length of the hall once those of higher rank, his family were served. Mother called out for silence as we all prepared to give our daily reports to her. Gaius’ brother, Hadrian, went first. “The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Legions encountered no battles while they patrolled. I, at the time, was with the Seventh Legion Munivit. The Praetors of the other legions I command delivered me these reports at four o-clock this evening, an hour before roll-call.” Hadrian, rushed through his words not giving many details, as per usual. Next were Gaius’ twin sisters, dubbed the Silver twins because of their hair colour and battlefield prowess. They gave very detailed accounts of the problems that had occurred to the west of the Imperium. Their reports revealed that they had encountered a small pack of wild Drakons and a force of Gryphons. Their fate took either of these three forms...capture, taming of the beasts or decimation. Finally it was time for Gaius. He recounted his challenges and victories from his journey. “We encountered a full army about seven miles from the Northern Imperium Gates. The army was made up of all types of monsters; Cyclopes, Hellhounds, Gryphons, Shades, and Drakons. Praetor Lydia, The First Legion Licentia, and I were able to completely destroy them. Unfortunately, we suffered one severe injury to the second cohort tribune, and minor wounds for many of the Legion’s Infantry troops. This could prove to be a large problem if the monsters become more organized. What is to say that they cannot attack the Imperium? I’m sorry to say it, but, if they are organized and their numbers continue to grow, there is a high likelihood that we may be overrun. This could prove disastrous. We know from our scouting parties that there are well over sixty thousand monsters of all kinds that infest this area. More specifically, the city of Rome and us. If we are overrun, that could mean the end of the Empire that has survived so long in the shadows. Everything we’ve worked for in the past few centuries would be for nothing. The Twelfth legion in America would definitely be overrun by these armies as they have less troops than us, less space, less everything. Heck, they don’t even know we exist! The only truth we know about them is that their camp, Camp Jupiter, is located somewhere in the bay area. For all we know, they could be living under a freakin’ highway! We need them if we are to be victorious if and when the monsters come for us. I propose that we find a way to welcome the Twelfth and their Allies into our ranks so that they may help us to become more powerful. Their support will greatly increase our chances of success.” Gaius, with a tinge of anger in his voice, completed his report of events to his mother. Heads started nodding at Gaius’ words. Gaius began to gain confidence in this plan of his. Gaius’ mother glared at him from across the table and Gaius’ smile faded and was replaced by a crease in his brow as he frowned at her apprehension and obvious opposition to his plan. The Empress raised her hand for silence and the voices died down to low whispers. She spoke, “What you ask for is close to impossible to grant. These other Romans could be primitive and do not know our ways. This monster army idea could just be a single group that could never launch nor carry out an organized attack. The only way I would consider sending you is if you agreed to obey the ancient laws. If you were to go ahead with this plan, you would be required to bring two human companions with you. Also, if I were to allow this, you would have to gather your own equipment. As I do not truly support this, the only things I would give to you are a passport and several plane tickets. I hope you realize that if you execute this plan, you would be leaving the safety of the Imperium, and of the Coalition. You would be on your own.” A silence befalls those at the table. Gaius stared forth in shock at the words. He asked himself, “What should I do..?” And then it came to him. Gaius mustered up his courage and confidence. He spoke, looking directly at his mother, “I shall do just that. I will take two humans and I will gather help from our North American counterparts.” His mother nodded to him, stood and walked towards the acropolis. Hadrian, once their mother was at a distance, swiveled his head to stare at Gaius in disbelief. The disbelief transitioned to anger in a matter of seconds. “What in the hells are you thinking?!”yelled Hadrian, “You’re gonna get yourself killed! You idiot!” Gaius wasn’t surprised, in fact, he had been expecting Hadrian to react in this way as he had done the same before one of Gaius’ other plans and quests. “Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen. I think..” “You THINK?? That’s what you go off of?” “Well, remember my other quests! Like the dark crown of..oh. Nevermind. Bad example. How about the lost Aegis of Hades..oh. Another bad example… The Golden Kraken’s head..?” Gaius tried to nod his brother off unsuccessfully. Hadrian scoffed. “That means nothing. On EVERY and I mean EVERY quest you’ve been on, you’ve caused some sort of trouble. For instance, you destroyed the palace of Nyx on the quest for her dark crown in Tartarus and caused her to chase you to the river Lethe? Remember... you lost your memory and had to be cured by an idiot we tricked into giving us a healing potion. During the quest for the Aegis of Hades, you almost killed the hellhound, Cerberus, and got an undead army to chase you all the way back to the above world. How about when you went on the idiotic quest and tryed to slay a freaking golden kraken and it swallowed you. You had to get out by gutting through its literate golden hide, FROM THE INSIDE! If none of that is bad, I ain’t sure what in the hells is.” Hadrian was beyond enraged, he was livid. “Oh c’mon! That proves nothing, absolutely nothing! Plus, if you remember correctly, I was successful on those quests and I had fewer companions with me! You were one of those companions, therefore, you should understand me wanting to go on dangerous quests! I’ve always wanted to face challenges and I usually am victorious in all that I do. I’ve been doing it since my first quest when I was five!” Gaius’ anger at his brother’s lack of faith in him was palpable. “Well, if you think I’ll accompany you on this fool’s errand, then you are dead wrong!” Hadrian yelled, stood up from the table, glared at him and stomped away. Sensing the tension at the table, the other Primis Praetors had slipped off to avoid the outburst from Gaius that was inevitable. The only people that remained were his two sisters who sat peacefully eating their dinner. Occasionally, they would look up at him, look back down and whisper to each other. Gaius stared at them for a second, curious as to why they hadn’t left the table. “Why didn’t you two leave like the others?” He asked, perplexed. “We have not finished our dinners,” replied the two girls speaking in unison in an odd voice. “Neither have I.” Gaius’ stomach rumbled to confirm this. He was brought back to the task at hand, finishing his dinner.